TRD Off Road - Suspension is stiff

Hey Everyone.

Anyone else think their Bilstein suspension on their TRD Off Road is a bit too stiff? It handles great on the road, but man...I swear I could tell if a quarter was heads or tails.

This is coming from a guy who previously had OME BP-51's on my well setup 4Runner.

I keep eyeballing the OME MT-64's thinking they will be more plush. I could care less about on-road handling.

Anyone?

 

A lot of people report tire pressure being too high from the dealer so that could be a factor.

I came from a 2nd gen with the TRD baja suspension or bilstien 6112's and I have to say that those coilovers made for a much nicer ride than the stock TRD suspension on my 4G.

So its most likely a case of us just being spoiled by having used higher quality components.

But check the tire pressure- it might help

When you take it to the dealer every 5k miles they like to pump them up to 39-40lbs when they rotate them and the ride is much better at 32-33lbs

 

Not at all. I keep my tires at 32psi.

 

As per door jam info should be 30psi

 

My TRD OR feels great… rides better than family’s lexus

Tire pressures are correct

 

I'm well aware.

I keep mine at 32.

 

I keep mine at 32-33 as well they had them set to 30 last week when I got new tires but when it drops to 29 my light comes on

 

You can set the pressure that TPWS considers "good".
Settings-vehicle settings-TPWS Setting-Setting Pressure (p538 in manual)
This sets the "good" pressure. Warning should come on if pressure drops %25 from that.

 

The structure is stout, but too many road imperfections are transmitted through the body versus the old OR’s setup, which was dialed to roll, pitch, and plow. Now the ride feels similar to Ranger, but not as bad as Frontier.

This was Toyota’s first rodeo combining a Tacoma with rear coils, so I give them a mulligan on suspension tuning that feels like a work in progress. Knowing Toyota, they’ve probably taken copious notes and are already quietly testing different suspension tuning mules for the eventual refresh. If so, I’d be very interested if some of those tweaks can be applied to earlier models.

 

There's a lot of internet confusion on tire pressure. A lot of folks think you look at the max pressure rating on the side of the tire, and use that. That's not a good idea. It makes for a harsh ride, increases wear to the center of the tread, and leaves little room for error and possible tire failure.

Vehicle manufacturers put a sticker inside the door with the recommended pressure, which they calculate based on the general estimated weight figuring passengers and load. lvmusicman isn't wrong. That's the pressure you should generally use. The baseline, so to speak.

The OEM tire on my OR is 265/70R17 115S. That's 265mm wide, 70% aspect ratio, 17" wheel, 115 load index and S speed rating.

The load index tells you max load. For a 115 rating, it's 2679lbs. If you look at a load inflation table for that size metric tire, you'll see:

PSI/Load
26/2061
27/2116
28/2149
29/2238
30/2326
31/2359
32/2414
33/2502
34/2546
35/2590
36/2679

The GAWR for the front/rear axle is 3480/3275lbs (1740/1637.5 per tire). Each of those pressures above is more than sufficient, and there are circumstances where you might choose one over the recommended 30 psi. Driving in sand and running a lower pressure is one example (and why Toyota offers an onboard compressor, to increase the pressure you might have intentionally reduced). You won't get any benefit over 36psi, as you've reached the max load. I chose 32 for improved fuel economy (I get 1-2mpg better mileage), with no perceived impact to ride quality.

 

What should the tire pressure be for my BF Goodrich KO3s ??? They are 265/70/18 load E.

 

39 psi would be what maintains the stock load.

If you were basing it off of dneal’s choice to run 32 in his, then the adjustment for yours would be 42 psi.

 

How is 39 calculated? I looked but could not find definitive information.

I’ve been running them at 37.

 

A tire pressure calculator helps, but you have to know how to use it and differentiate between the different types of tires (flotation (LT inch), P-metric, euro-metric (no P), and LT metric) The tire pressure calculator calculates what your stock tires are capable of at the factory recommended pressure, and then it finds where the new tire reaches the same point, and it suggests a PSI based on that, assuming it's not outside the limits of the new tire.

Start by entering all the stock info on the left side. For this example I used a stock OR 4th gen with the 265/70R17 SL 115T tires. They are not P265/70R17, so you would choose the normal metric, not p-metric.

So choose metric, then fill out the size details, and choose SL at the end, then 30 psi.



Then fill out the new info, since the KO3 is a load E, it is an LT and is LT265/70R18. Choose load E, then calculate.

Pretty easy, just have to know how to use the calculator. People mix up P and euro-metric all the time, and that throws off numbers and causes tons of confusion. If there is no P in the size, then it's not a P-metric. People don't seem to understand that not everything that isn't LT, isn't necessarily a P either.



Something that may not make sense at first, is that non-LT tires (P-metric and euro-metric) include an overage of 10% because of the weaker relative strength of the tire. So you are actually always 10% over inflated. So when converting to LT pressures, you remove that 10% of load capacity, which is why in this case, we take the 2302 lbs the SLs are capable of, and match them with only 2116 lbs from the LTs.

For your use, 37 isn't going to cause any trouble. It is still close enough and more than capable of carrying the truck. Have to keep in mind that the manufacturers don't always recommend pressure for tire life, they often add in some extra for mpg and less rolling resistance. Almost all factory recommendations are still over inflated to some degree.

 

Load index tables. They're different for metric, P-metric, LT, etc...

 

This is good to know. I run weight in the rear of my Tacoma full time. Bumper with swing-outs (gas/tire), and a camper. I'm getting the truck weighed next week specifically for this reason.

On my Gen1 4Runner I have lots of weight too, and run more than the recommended pressure on the rear axle.

 

An extra 2mpg, 12K miles/yr @$3.5/gal = $190/yr. Additional tire wear with an extra 2psi is probably minimal, so the savings would more than make up for slightly more tire wear. I used to run 35psi in my old Tacoma and noticed a solid 2mpg difference but the Pro suspension feels better at 30 (and way better than the as delivered 40psi).

Play around with the psi. If you can't notice the difference in your seat, you will in your wallet (in a good way).

 

Thank you. I’ll bump them to 39 psi in the next few days.

 

Another thing to keep in mind is that a couple of pounds difference (within the "safe" range, of course), don't really matter.

You gain/lose about 1psi for every 10 degrees difference in ambient temperature. Late winter/early spring where it's 20 in the morning and 60 in the afternoon? That's 4psi difference, even if you didn't move the vehicle.

My truck is parked outside, with the passenger side facing east. In the morning once the sun rises, the two passenger side tires are 1-2psi higher than the driver's side. In the afternoon, that's reversed.